Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Author: Thoughts On The Dead (Page 135 of 1031)

Tangential To The Line

Aren’t those things supposed to have pedals?

“Yeah, but they’re tricky. I’m just faking it over here.”

Is that a Dusenberg Pomona 6?

“You had nothing better to do than to find out where I bought my steel guitar?”

No. Jesus, look at this website. It’s the digital equivalent of the Champagne Room at the Porsche dealership.

“There is no Champagne Room at the Porsche dealership. They’ll take you into the break room and tongue you for a while, but there’s no ‘Champagne Room.’ The GM will usually tug at you, too, if you seem receptive. That’s not abnormal for us.”

Us?

“The rich.”

Ah.

“Almost all of our services come with a tugger attached. At the very least. Sometimes you’ll get more, or even way more, but you’ll always get a tugger. I buy a watch for a million? I expect free shipping, and I demand to be worked off.”

Capitalism is scary.

OR

Okay, this is absurd:

And there’s no prices. My father warned me about that. Everyone’s fathers warned them about that.

Jesus Christ. Look here:

SHOW ME YOUR BUTTHOLE.

Stop it.

I feel home within buttholes. THERE IS MUSIC IN YOUR BUTTHOLE.

You barely even wrote 200 words, and lost control in the curve. Why can’t you concentrate?

Boo, you’re the worst. Anyway, it turns out that Duesenberg’s aren’t as ferociously expensive as they might be: you can get a used Pomona 6 for $2,300, cash on the barrel, which seems about right for a fancy guitar. Duesenberg guitars are not made by intolerable hipsters–

–but by clueless foreigners. Try and read that paragraph without a comically German accent. Duesenberg ist DREI MACHT STEPPEN! Also: Dieter Golsdorf? Here he is:

Because everything is a circle, maaaaaan.

A Lesser Giant

The second of the Grateful Dead’s two Giants Stadium shows in 1991 opened up with Eyes of The World; the first show kicked off with Picasso Moon. Don’t let that dissuade you from checking it out. 6/16/91 features both a rendition of Stagger Lee and a completely generic second set, but it’s the Dusborne Matrix version and someone‘s gotta listen to post-Brent shows.

OR

“Jenkins!”

“Yes, sir?”

“We need to decide on visuals for the Dead shows.”

“I’m ready, sir.”

“What year is it?”

“1991, sir.”

“Close-ups of Garcia! Fish-eye lens that lard-ass!”

“I was thinking maybe we kept the camera on Bobby and the drummers.”

“Nonsense! Close as you can on Garcia! Make him look like the Ghost of Christmas Something.”

“Oh, fine. What about the projections?”

“Colorful bullshit.”

“Would you like to be more specific, sir?”

“I would not.”

OR

One of you must know this: when did the Dead start using the Jumbotrons? Has someone written a history of the Jumbotron in rock? I am now incredibly interested in this topic.

OR

Here’s the thing about ’91 shows: they exist in a world wherein ’73 shows also exist. I don’t know if I’ve listened to September of ’73 enough–let alone March!– to  justify spending so much time on a ’91 that’s not 9/10/91.

I might ripcord out of this sucker. That’s all I’m saying.

Another Champ

Normal folks got no money, and shitty connections, and this means that normal folks can only get so high. Rich people got money–or can get credit–and that draws a better class of drug dealer. Rich people can get pretty high. Elvis, though, had his own doctor and the pharmacy he went to was on Elvis Presley Boulevard. Elvis got the highest. There’s no way to be higher than Elvis here.

“HOW DARE YOU, BOY!”

I had to figure you’d show up. Hey, King.

“NOTICE MAH MEDAL!”

It’s nice. What’s it for.

“IT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY A KARATE MASTER AH BATTLED JUST OUTSIDE ELKO, NEVADA. AH DEVASTATED TH’ MAN WITH MAH KICKS AN’ OTHER VARIOUS KARATE MOVES.”

Great.

“YOU ACCUSIN’ THE KING O’ SOMETHING? YOUR ASSERTIONS WILL BE REFUSTED. STRAIGHT-UP REFUSTED. AH JUS’ MADE UP THAT WORD. ‘REFUSTED.’ THAT AIN’T NO WORD. AN’ YOU WASN’T GONNA CORRECT ME, BOY! YOU WAS GONNA SIT THERE AN’ FEEL ME BEIN’ DOMINANT!”

You’re rather aggressive this visit.

“AH RESPOND TO DISRESPECT WITH THE FEROCITY OF A LION. LOOK!”

“SEE ? LION!”

Lion.

“AH REMEMBER DOIN’ THIS NUMBER. WE HAD THAT BOY UP HERE T’ GRACELAND IN ’69. HE VISITED DURIN’ THAT NEKKID FOREST PARTY UP IN NEW YORK STATE. HE LIVED RIGHT UP THE STREET. NOISE WAS DRIVIN’ HIM NUTS.”

Wow. I did not know this.

“SHOWED UP AT TH’ GATES INNA CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY. THAT’S TH’ CAR OF A SERIOUS MAN. I ALLOWED HIM ENTRANCE TO MAH HOME. BOB DYLAN WAS GREETED AT TH’ DOOR BAH MAH MONKEY-NECKED, SWAMP-SMELLIN’, PICKIN’-UP-RADIO-SIGNALS-ON-HIS-FILLIN’S, LEAKY DIAPER OF A DADDY–”

Vernon.

“–VERNON. AH WAS PROUD O’ MAH DADDY THAT DAY, AS HE DID NOT MENTION BOB DYLAN’S OBVIOUS JEWISHNESS.”

That was polite of Vernon.

“CHARLIE HODGE LOCKED HISSELF IN A BATHROOM, AS HE FEARED THE JEW.”

Wow.

“WHEN BORED, AH OFTEN CHASE CHARLIE HODGE AROUND WHILE SHOUTIN’ JEW’S COMIN’ FOR YA! THAT ALWAYS BREAKS TH’ BOYS UP, MAN!”

How did you and Bob get along?

“FAMOUSLY. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A WELCOME GIFT. IT WAS A MASSIVE HAT. AH WORE IT, EVEN THOUGH AH’M NOT A HAT PERSON. TO HIM, AH PRESENTED A TAPE RECORDER COVERED IN PRECIOUS JEW’REY. MAINLY OPALS. THERE WAS A SHIT-LOAD O’ OPALS ON THAT SUMBITCH.”

And then?

“FO’R REASONS O’ COMPASSION AN’ INSURANCE PURPOSES, AH HAD DOCTOR NICK GIVE BOB DYLAN A FULL LOOKIN’-OVER.”

Heebie-jeebies?

“DOC SAID IT WAS TH’ SECOND-WORST CASE HE EVER SAW.”

I’m shocked.

“TH’ REST OF TH’ VISIT IS UNKNOWN TO ME, BUT WAS APPARENTLY QUITE PRODUCTIVE! WE RECORDED A DOZEN SONGS, MAN.”

What? You’re kidding. Where are the tapes?

“THEY OUT IN CALIFORNIA. SAFEST PLACE COULD EVER BE: A THEME PARK IN WILDFIRE COUNTRY. NO WORRIES ‘BOUT THEM TAPES.

Sigh.

“BAM! YOU HEALED. GET ON GOIN’, FREAKY.”

Who are you talking to?”

“SHE GONNA BUS’ OUTTA THEM BRACES LIKE KING KONG BURSTIN’ HIS CHAINS IN NEW YORK, MAN. WALK, FREAKY, WALK! ELVIS SAYS YOU C’N WALK!”

This got weird.

“THIS GOT MIRACULOUS! YOU CAN DO IT, FREAKY!”

Our First Batch Of Winners*

We return, Enthusiasts, to the Dylan Cover Contest, which I again remind you is not a competition. Some of you have followed orders and posted your choices in the Comment Section, where  asked you to, and others of you–roundheaded cheese-thieves that you are–answered on Twitter. Some of your picks are brilliant, and a couple of you like that lady who sings in French.

You know that TotD is not xenophobic, but the site does have a policy regarding foreigners, and that is: They should be hated and feared, Doubly so if they talk gobbledygook, and these gobblings were on purpose! Fuckface Condition was a British band. They chose to sing in French. Serge Gainsbourg sang in French, but he didn’t have any other options. Maybe scat-singing. But this was a brunette lady named Sandy who grew up in London, so I can get mad at her decisions.

It is of very little use getting mad at Nina Simone.

Miss Simone will not care, hopefully. If she does notice, you should duck. (The sign of a true diva: like Elvis and Miles, Miss Simone enjoyed shooting at her business associates, generally while indoors.)

Hey, Bob Dylan.

“I need drugs and a dogsitter.”

I’ll work on it.

All you can hear is Jimi’s voice and guitar, but no one’s hitting play for Chas Chandler. (That would, however, be a Rock Nerd Power Opinion: I think Jimi Hendrix never recovered after losing Chas. Pull that one out of your cargo pants at the next Phish Scholars conference; you’ll start a riot.)

 

*It is in no way a contest. This title is misleading, at best. I don’t understand how these mistakes keep getting through.

Gowdy?


Why are you an enemy of the homosexual community?

“Excuse me?”

You treat gaiety as a joke.

“I do not! It’s a fun shirt.”

You may as well shoot up a gay nightclub. Or a library.

“A library?”

Apparently, the drag queens are hanging out at libraries now.

“I am an ally.”

That shirt is like queer blackface. You put on your costume, have your fun, and then go back to enforcing heteronormativity and eating Chick-Fil-A.

“Stop it.”

How gay?

“What?”

How gay would you go for Trey?

“Fully gay. I would be up for anything.”

Dude. There’s some wild arrows in the gay quiver.

“I would assume it’s just like hot yoga with penetration. Bring it the fuck on.”

I like your gumption.

“You gotta be your own cheerleader, man.”

So true.

Man At Work

 

“Ass!”

Hey, Billy. Summer Tour, huh?

“Yup. I gotta tell you something: I love this band more than I loved the Grateful Dead. And not just because Phil isn’t in it.”

Is it the checks?

“You really do know me, man.”

Uh-huh.

“Deadheads got so much more money now! They used to sleep a dozen to a room and give tuggers for drug money, but now half of ’em are real estate assholes. Or respectable criminals. You know: classy shit like fraud, or computer shit. Dead & Company got more respectable criminals in their audience than any other band.”

Almost certainly true.

“And they’re desperate to give us their money. We priced the merch so high as a joke. Figured we’d have to knock ten bucks off, but the rubes ponied right up.”

Please don’t call your fans “rubes,” Billy.

“What would you call someone who spent three grand on a blanket with a Stealie on it?”

Yeah, okay.

Choogteaser

The Meet-Up at the Movies version of this show, 6/17/91 from Giants Stadium, will be of a higher quality, AND feature a short film starring David Lemieux in which he reveals this year’s big box set. This video is a paltry substitute. It is, however, free AND contains 40 or 45 Dark Star teases, so you might consider watching it.

Or not. Maybe tonight’s the night you eat all those pills you’ve been saving. Who the fuck knows? Do whatever the fuck you want.

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